Weekend Foodie: A sizzling recipe for the last barbecue of the summer
Make the most of the last weekend before the return to school with these buttermilk chicken skewers.
For most secondary school kids, this weekend marks the last weekend of summer holidays as many schools reopen on Monday. The smallies will also be going back to the classroom very soon.
- 4 skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 200mls buttermilk
- 1 red and 1 yellow pepper, halved, de-seeded and cut in pieces
- 2 red onions, peeled and in wedges
- 750g baby potatoes, halved
- 220g fresh green beans, stalks removed
For the dressing:
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp light balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp mint sauce
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Cut the chicken breasts into chunks and place in a shallow dish.
- Add the garlic and seasoning.
- Pour over the buttermilk and toss it all together to coat the meat.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or as long as possible.
- Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade, shaking off any excess buttermilk.
- Thread chicken onto skewers alternating with pepper pieces and red onion wedges. Brush lightly with oil .
- Cook over hot barbecue coals, turning occasionally. Or use an oiled conventional griddle pan, preheated till smoking, or bake in a pre-heated oven, Gas 5 375F 190C for about 20 minutes.
- For the salad, cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water till tender. In a separate pan, cook the beans in lightly boiling salted water for a few minutes till tender but still with bite.
- Drain veggies and place in a bowl.
- Shake dressing ingredients in a screw top jar and pour over the spuds and beans. Stir carefully to coat.
- Serve the hot skewers with warm potatoes and beans on the side.
- 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
- Icing sugar for dusting
For the filling:
- 175mls cream
- 2 tbsp sifted icing sugar
- Finely grated zest of two lemons
- 3 large ripe peaches or 6 small ones.
- Lay out the puff pastry sheet on a worktop dusted with flour. It should measure roughly 27cm wide by 30cm long. Using a ruler and point of a sharp knife, make 6 x 2cm marks along the long side of the pastry.
- Next make 3 x 9cm marks down the width of the pastry. Using the marks as a guideline and the ruler and sharp knife, score out 18 equal-sized rectangles. Carefully cut them and lay rectangles on a lightly oiled non-stick baking tray, spacing slightly apart. Dust with icing sugar.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven, Gas 6 400F 200C (180C) for fan assisted, for about ten minutes, or until crisp and golden.
- Remove and cool on a wire rack.
- Whip the cream thick with the icing sugar and lemon zest.
- Halve and stone peaches and slice thinly.
- To assemble one cream slice, swirl or pipe whipped cream onto one rectangle and arrange some peach slices on top. Top with a second rectangle, adding cream and peaches on top again. Finally, top this with a third rectangle and dust the top with extra icing sugar. Repeat to assemble six triple-decker slices. Arrange on a cake plate and serve immediately.
A ripe and fruity Chardonnay is just the thing to go with these tasty kebabs. Aldi’s Estevez Chilean Chardonnay is made from grapes grown in the Centra Valley of Chile. They get lots of sun to ripen and cool breezes to give a clean crisp edge. That’s the perfect balance for these kebabs, which have a tangy taste from the buttermilk, but also combine the sweetness of peppers and charred red onions as well. This needs a little chilling in the fridge, not more than an hour, to bring out the sweet ripe cantaloupe melon and subtle white peach tastes, but also to enhance that lime zest finish. A perfect blend of tastes in the glass for these chargrilled skewers. Find it at Aldi stores now as part of their usual range, just €7.69 a bottle.
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